The present invention relates to women's footwear, either a shoe or boot that has no means of changing styles due to the current nature of permanent heel attachment. The invention described herein allows women to change any shoe style with a new heel, at the discretion of the wearer. The invention is therefore of great use for women who desire to express individual style or need to transport many shoes styles when traveling. The current method of securing a heel relies on nails, brads, cement, etc. and is currently permanently secured. Although shoe heels are permanently secured they do, however, break off. The current invention herein is neither obvious nor anticipated, whereby a more secure method is invented and resists breakage and allows women the great advantage of changing the design of any pair of shoes in this shoe line.
There have been patents for shoe heels that are removable; however there are none with the current method that uses the present invention, herein, to secure a removable shoe heel and prevent removal until desired. Accordingly, what is desired, and has not heretofore been developed and is new and unobvious, is a removable shoe heel assembly. It is further desired that the shoe maintain the basic appearance of a typical shoe. Finally, it is desired that the method of making a removable women's shoe or boot heel be easy to manipulate with no need for outside tools or pieces that one could lose or misplace. The related art follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,570 B1 Walker. Oct. 14, 2003
U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,871 B2 Doerer, Sep. 3, 2002
U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,625 A Goldsmith, Dec. 26, 1995
U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,893 A Musci, Aug. 30, 1983
Walker invented a product that could eventually twist apart, the present invention has a locking part that prevents accidental movement. Goldsmith uses a strap that could eventually harm the wearer that is also unsightly, and uses a part that could eventually become lost, the present invention that I have designed has no parts to lose and nothing that could harm the wearer. Musci invented parts that will become easily breakable due to the nature of the design, the new invention has no parts that will easily break thereby making the invention a wearable shoe that possesses many style changes and will be successful in the market.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,050,644 A Book, 18-1936
U.S. Pat. No. 2,187,167 A Mayor, 01-1940
U.S. Pat. No. 2,582,551 A Gerhardus, 01-1952
U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,866 A Perguia, 06-1957
U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,867 A Zuckerman et al, 06-1957
U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,946 A Baum, 09-1980
U.S. Pat. No. 5,675,916 A Lewis, 10-1997
US-2010/0139123 A1, Alan et al, 06-2010
Book uses a screw penetrating from the heel tip to the shoe sole. The design could cause the heel to fracture or break with normal use causing injury to the wearer and has ancillary parts that could be lost. The Applicant's invention seats a removable housing assembly in the shoe sole and heel and uses a locking system, thus creating a very secure and easy to operate design with no ancillary parts to lose and is not an assumption or supposition of Book.
Mayor seeks to disconnect a portion of a shoe heel with a sliding action so as to re-connect a lift or heel tip. This design is distinguishingly different from the Applicant's invention because Applicant wishes to remove the entire heel from the sole to attach a new and different style of heel and uses a removable housing assembly in the heel and sole with a gravity lock, and is not assumed or supposed by Mayor.
Gerhardus relates to a heel lifting device with a tongue and groove that is unrelated to the Applicant's invention. Gerhardus also has an unsightly design while the Applicant's invention uses a removable housing assembly in the sole and heel creating no visual difference from a conventional shoe when attached.
Perugia uses a mortise slide and lugs and tenon that slides forward and backward. This could create injury to the wearer due to premature disengagement. The Applicant's invention substantially differs from Perugia and uses a removable housing assembly in the sole and heel with a gravity lock that prevents any movement or disengagement.
Zuckerman uses a shoe stiffener with an enlarged plate and dovetail grooves whereby a pin is inserted by pulling up the shoe sole. By contrast, the Applicant's invention uses a removable housing assembly in the sole and heel with a gravity lock and has no additional parts to insert for placement and is not assumed or supposed by Zuckerman.
Baum uses a screw method of securing a heel; however, no reference is made for a pass through slot or locking device, that when attached to the shank, would create a very durable attachment and prevent movement. The Applicant's invention embodies a design that was not assumed, and is non-obvious and addresses the issue of easily removing the heel, locking another choice of heel when desired, by using a removable housing assembly in the sole and heel with a gravity lock.
Lewis uses another method of a screw device and a plug, using manual insertion under the sole. The Applicant's invention uses no ancillary parts that require manual adjustment and substantially differs from Lewis.
Alan uses an unsightly design with an off-putting sole/heel that will require very costly retooling and overhead. The use of a pin extending through to the shoe heel tip could cause cracking or breakage during normal wear due to force and pressure. Also, the use of the shoe heel tip to remove the heel requires much time to operate. The Applicant's current invention uses easily manufactured parts, making it easy and cost effective to retrofit the current method of shoe making. Also, the current invention uses a removable housing assembly in the sole and heel taking seconds to operate that locks into place, and substantially differs from and is not a conclusion or supposition of Alan's.